First modification:
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned the Colombian State for the human rights violations for more than two decades against some 6,000 members or sympathizers of the Patriotic Union, a left-wing party that emerged from a failed peace process with the then guerrilla of the FARC and who was a militant between 1980 and 1990. The Inter-American Court determined responsibility for the persecution and practically extermination of thousands of members of the ‘UP’, as it was known.
The international tribunal considered that there was a systematic extermination plan and that in the facts “there are superimposed forms of direct responsibility that derive from both the direct participation of state agents and non-state actors”, furthermore, it indicated that there were “various mechanisms of tolerance, acquiescence and collaboration for these to happen”, factors that constitute a “crime against humanity”.
The Inter-American Court ordered the Colombian State to indemnify the victims or their families, carry out a search for the militants who are still missing and promote, within a period of no more than 2 years, investigations to clarify the truth of the crimes, in addition to conducting a public act of acknowledgment of international responsibility and establishing a national day in commemoration of the victims of the Patriotic Union, among other activities that help to remember the victims.
What does this sentence mean for the Colombian State? How does the peace-building process impact Colombia? Does this symbolize the closing of a dark chapter of State violence in Colombia? To analyze this topic we talked with our guests:
– Adriana Otálora, professor at the Universidad de la Salle and coordinator of the Line of Ethical and Political Citizenship of the doctorate in Development and Territory Studies.
– Néstor Rosania, executive director of the Center for Security and Peace Studies in Colombia.
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